Aug
13
Case against Punjab cop shifted to Haryana…justice delayed.
August 13, 2006 | Comments Off on Case against Punjab cop shifted to Haryana…justice delayed.
Lawyers for Amreek Singh, father of the deceased Avtar Singh, moved the five-year-old murder case against Punjabi Police Inspector Gurmeet Singh Pinki to a Haryana Sessions Court from Ludhiana (Punjab) on Aug. 8. Inspector Pinki, who served two years of jail time on the charge of beating and shooting Singh (Jr.), continues to deny involvement in Avtar Singh’s murder and is accused of delaying justice.
This case began in 2001, when the now 65-year-old Singh (Sr.) received a desperate phone call from his son’s friend informing him that the 21-year-old Singh (Jr.) was being beaten by a group of drunken men, including four policemen in civilian attire.
The men had apparently been drinking in narrow lane and were clearly looking for a fight, and when Avataar walked by, they pounced on him.
Singh rushed to the scene, where he allegedly witnessed Inspector Pinki beating Singh (Jr.), after which Pinki shot him dead. Pinki’s gunman Bittoo also fired a shot at Singh Sr., grazing his head.
“They were beating my son. When we asked why, they turned on me and then Pinki took out his revolver and shot my son. They also shot at me, but the bullet just grazed my head,” says Amreek.
Singh (Sr.) states that after the assault, Inspector Pinki, his gunman Bittoo, and their other accomplices fled from the site. Available evidence supports his case: the two cartridges found on the spot proved to match the two guns issued to Pinki by the Punjabi Police. Also potentially implicating was Pinki’s behavior following the incident. The inspector went underground for 10 days until angry rallies forced him to surrender to officials. Conversely, Pinki insists that he was not present on the day of the crime, claiming that he was on an undisclosed national security mission at a secret location.
Avtar Singh’s case came to trial at the Chandigarh court in 2003, where three judges successively either refused to hear or recused themselves from the proceedings. Singh (Sr.)’s key witnesses then began distancing themselves from the incident. According to the original testimony Daljeet Singh, Singh (Sr.)’s friend and neighbor, accompanied him to the scene and witnessed Singh (Jr.) bleed to death. Recently, D. Singh denied his presence at the spot of the incident.
Simultaneously, Inspector Pinki and eight other men accused of involvement with Avtar Singh’s death were granted bail in 2003. The Punjabi Police reinstated Pinki, who Singh (Sr.)’s lawyers accuse of influencing the case.
“The accused police officer has filed time and again to delay the case. The father of the victim has had to appear 40 times before his testimony was recorded. Either the court was not sensitive enough or the accused managed to get his way,” said [R.S.] Bains, Punjab High Court Lawyer.
Lawyers for Amreek Singh claim that they have evidence that Pinki and the others accused are trying to influence the verdict and would like the case to be transferred.
The petitioner’s lawyers convinced the court that the case be transferred out of Punjab in March. This month, it was transferred to the sessions court in Kurukshetra, Haryana. Amreek Singh, now the only eyewitness willing to stand trial, makes the journey to Kurukshetra each time to take part in the case.
It is important to highlight Gurmeet Singh Pinki’s history of leading false arrests and torture when considering Avtar Singh’s case. A good example is the illegal detention of 20-year-old Parvinder Singh, who was held in incommunicado detention for one week before formal arrest. The Fatehgarh Sahib police, led by Pinki, entered P. Singh’s home, and thoroughly searched it in the presence of his grandfather Sohan Singh. According to P. Singh’s father’s testimony, the police did not find any suspicious material. However, upon Parvinder Singh and his father’s return, they arrested and detained the former without further explanation. P. Singh’s father visited stations all over Punjab in search of his son, but to no avail. On June 11, 2005, he filed an application with the SSP. Finally,
The SSP of Ropar gave a press statement that Khanna police had arrested Parvinder Singh on June 16 and had registered a case under the Explosive Substances Act, Arms Act, and various sections of Chapter VI of the Indian Penal Code, dealing with waging war against the state. The police alleged that Parvinder Singh was a BKI militant with a hit list including the former director general of Punjab police, a senior Congress leader, and controversial cult leader Baba Bhaniaranwala. The police further claimed to have recovered ammunitions and explosives from Parvinder Singh: two sticks of RDX, two detonators, and 20 cartridges for an AK-47.
During the week of illegal detention, the police tortured him with electric shocks, tore his legs apart, and caused a vertebrae disc in his back to dislocate. They also threatened to kill him repeatedly.
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